Phalère : see note, p

52. 13. Solon : the great legislator of Athens, and one of the seven

wise men of Greece (about 640-560 B.c.).

25. Périclès (499-429 b.c.) : Pericles was one of Ihe greatest Athenian orators and statesmen, and the leader of the démocratie party ; he established on a solid basis the naval and colonial power of Athens, encouraged arts and letters, and adomed his city Avith admirable monnments of architecture and sculptiu'e.

31. Lucrèce (99-55 b.c.) : a Roman poet, aiithor of De rernm natiira. A man of literary tastes, he livcd the lifc of a stndent and was the aj^ostle of Epicurean materialism. His théories of light, of évolution, and of the ultimate constitution of atoms, hâve won the admiration of modem scientists ; bnt his triie greatness rests on the descriptive bcauty of his poetry. The following is the translation of the lines (vi. 1-4) quoted by Chateaubriand : —

* In days of yore Athens of faraous name first imparted com-prolucing crops to suffering mankind, and modelled life anew and passed laws ; and first too bestowed sweet solaces of existence,'

53. 23. l'Hermus : a river in Asia Miuor which rises in Phrygia

and discharges itself into the Aegean Sea near Smyma.